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We are shut up to the Greek text, which must be regarded as a reliable account of the exchange.
The switch in terms shouldn't be understood as Jesus coming to doubt Peter's commitment.
And I agree that we are not to assume Peter's grief stems from the Lord's "reduced" term--it's a different term, with a different shade; not quite the ranked relationship between the two terms that some posit, yet Peter's prior use of it may hint at his own chastened ambition. Peter's not bummed out because it appears Jesus may now hesitate to credit him with unstinting devotion, or that other disciples will suppose Jesus' estimate of him could fall even further than that. It is Peter's restoration, after all, not his denigration.Then when Jesus asks the third time: "Do you phileo me?" it is interpreted by my well-intentioned friend that Jesus is asking "do you EVEN phileo me as you say the first two times?" and Peter noticing Jesus switches from "agape" to "phileo" is grieved because Peter now thinks Jesus is doubting him altogether: "Lord, you know all things ..."